Foster Care Alumni

The Foster Care Alumni Program at Austin Community College is part of the Community Outreach Office. This program connects students with "Campus Champions" on ACC campuses. These Campus Champions work with students to achieve academic success through assistance with academic course selection, mentoring, and providing guidance throughout the student's experience at ACC.

"Foster Care Alumni of America is a national non-profit association that has been founded and is led by alumni of the foster care system. We use the term alumni to describe those of us who have been in foster care during our childhood/youth.

The mission of FCAA is to connect the alumni community and to transform foster care policy and practice, ensuring opportunity for people in and from foster care."

This work group brings together public and private services providers, policymakers, other stakeholders and consumers (youth and alumni) to address the needs of youth aging out of foster care in Travis County and the surrounding areas.

Starting Points

"2-1-1 , a program of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission in collaboration with the United Way for Greater Austin, is a free, easy-to-use phone number that connects callers anywhere in Texas with health and human service providers in their community."

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services provides employment services for former foster youth: "PAL Staff will provide the Employment Preference form letter to qualifying youth when they are 18 years of age and as requested.""Section 1. Subtitle B, Title 6, Government Code, is amended by adding Chapter 672 requiring state agencies to give an employment preference to former foster youth who were in the permanent managing conservatorship of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services on the day preceding the individual's 18th birthday over other applicants for the same position who do not have a greater qualification. An individual is entitled to an employment preference only if the individual is 25 years of age or younger (day before turning 26)."

"The Texas Foster Youth Project, a special project of Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, Inc. and funded in part by the Texas Supreme Court's Permanent Judicial Commission For Children, Youth & Families, provides legal support and guidance to foster youth and alumni across Texas."Toll-free number: 1-877-313-3688